Must Say Goodbye
by nic5
Summary: Chapter 2. Van realised that he had never given Hitomi the option to remain with him, to late. He would do anything to get her back again.
1. Prologue

We Must Say Goodbye  
  
Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters below. Thanks so much for your constructive reviews! Will work harder!  
  
  
  
Prologue.  
  
She always felt a sense of calm as she approached the sea. The gentle carress of  
  
the light breeze a trembling lover's touch; the soft sound of the waves as it met the sand his sweet whisper..  
  
  
  
She walked slowly to the red letter box. Its once vibrant coat of red fading slightly to the now rusted brown. The lid creaked a little in protest as she lifted it.  
  
  
  
Empty.  
  
  
  
Of course.  
  
  
  
What had she expected?  
  
  
  
She released her held breath and reverently placed a white lily in the box.  
  
  
  
It had become a ritual. Her coming to the house by the beach every weekend. It  
  
brought her serenity and peace. A peace that she wouldn't find herself.  
  
  
  
All her peace were from the letters they exchanged. Now that he had left, how  
  
was she to find it back?  
  
  
  
"True love is not dependent." Her friend had told her.  
  
  
  
"Neither is it independent." she thought now, bitterly.  
  
  
  
Absently, her fingers trailed over the marks on the letter box left by her on  
  
the day she had rushed to deliver her last letter to him. She had railed her barren anger and desperation on it as her knees gave way and she sank sobbing uncontrollably; hoping against hope that he would receive her letter before it was too late.  
  
  
  
Then a flash had hit her. Memories, as she saw in her mind his passing. He had  
  
been hit by a car. Blood, pooling on the floor.  
  
  
  
Him. Struggling to rise too weak to do so.  
  
  
  
Him. Looking at her. Reaching for her.  
  
  
  
Him. Closing his eyes as tears trickled down.  
  
  
  
Him. For the last time.  
  
  
  
And she remembered pain. All this sea of solitude and tranquility brought her  
  
was pain.  
  
  
  
It is better to have love and lost than not to have loved at all. He had written  
  
that in his letter to her, when she was so heartbroken that her boyfriend had left her forcing all her to choose between him and her career.  
  
He had taught her that meaning, gradually through all their letters exchanged  
  
and all the things he had done for her; though she hadn't realised it then. She had been blinded by her infatuation. And had traded her chance for true love for someone she had only been infatuated with.  
  
  
  
She realised that now.  
  
  
  
She had only felt despondent when her boyfriend had left her. The tears she had  
  
shed were only to lament a  
  
what-might-have-been. It did not come the way it did when she saw his death in  
  
her mind.  
  
  
  
And felt it in her soul. 


	2. Chapter 1

We Must Say Goodbye  
  
I really appreciate all your reviews! Hopefully this chapter will bide you till I figure out what to do next. Ideas are always welcome...  
  
Chapter 1.  
  
"Hitomi!" Yukari exclaimed, exasperated.  
  
She snapped her head up. "Hmm?"  
  
"Are you even listening to me?"  
  
"Yes I am." An empty smile plastered on her face, "You were just telling me about your new boyfriend that you met... Taka?.. during the millennium celebrations?"  
  
"No I was not." Yukari frowned. "And UNCLE Taka was my relative who died last week, while we were counting down." Looking at Hitomi's unchanging expression, she continued, "You're impossible..."  
  
Yukari glanced to the haphazard rows of manga before her, gesturing. "Look... you're placing them all wrong! What's gotten into you?" She shook her head, sighing, as she saw no response from her friend sitting beside her.  
  
"Okay. You just sit here and man the till, right? I'll shelve the manga."  
  
She stood up, muttering to herself, and started to reorganize the books on the shelf.  
  
"I'm sorry." Hitomi suddenly whimpered, burying her face in her hands. "I'm so useless. I can't even do anything right anymore."  
  
Sensing something amiss, Yukari turned around to regard her long time friend, and was shocked to see tears streaming down her smooth face.  
  
"Hey, don't worry about it. You know I didn't mean to..."  
  
"No," came the muffled reply. "You're right. I'm just so useless. I can't even..."  
  
Concern deeply etched into her features, Yukari placed the volumes of manga onto the counter top and asked gently, "What's wrong?"  
  
"It's just..." she stammered, but halted when the door chime announced the arrival of another customer.  
  
"I'm sorry." She repeated again, weakly. "You're running a business." Hitomi wiped at her face with the back of her hand. "And instead of helping out I'm just getting in your way." Another tear made its way down.  
  
Yukari shook her head gently. "No, you're not. You just sit here and wait for me, alright?"  
  
Hitomi sat in silence as she watched her friend flip the 'closed' sign and politely coax the rest of the customers out of the shop.  
  
"You don't have to..." Hitomi began as the last customer trailed out.  
  
"No. I didn't have to." Yukari interjected, "but I wanted to." She placed her hands over Hitomi's clammy ones, and squeezed them lightly. "Now tell me what's wrong."  
  
"I..." Hitomi sank into her best friend's embrace as waves of emotions overcame her, her lithe frame convulsing in violent spasms.  
  
Yukari's eyes widened slightly in alarm, surprised at the sudden raw torrent of emotions bursting from her friend. Initially unsure of what to say, she patted her back comfortingly. Hitomi was definitely not in the mood to talk now - and what she needed Yukari the friend, not Yukari the psychologist. So she held her in a silent embrace, holding her until the violent contractions subsided.  
  
"Are you feeling better?"  
  
Hitomi retreated a little from her friend and nodded her tear-stained face, her usually neat tresses for once in disarray.  
  
"Do you want to talk about it?" An almost imperceptible shake of the head.  
  
Deciding not to press her for it, Yukari sighed and stood up to make some coffee. Moving towards the little storeroom at the back of the shop in search of the instant coffee mixes, she wondered for the umpteenth time what could have possibly scarred Hitomi so; and caused a perpetually happy- go-lucky girl to be in such a state of distress.  
  
Walking back to the counter, a steaming mug in each hand, she returned to see Hitomi still seated in the same position she had left her, red- rimmed eyes staring blankly ahead. She sighed audibly and set one on the counter top, sipping the other in silence.  
  
"Thank you." Hitomi said, after a while.  
  
"Nahh... it's just some instant mix. Had plenty left over..."  
  
"No." Hitomi replied softly, cutting her off. "For being here."  
  
Yukari just reached over and squeezed her hand. 


	3. Chapter 2

We Must Say Goodbye  
  
Hey! Must say this one was a long time coming. Been pretty busy these few months, with lots of university applications to settle, amongst other things. Will try to update more consistently in the future. Thanks for all your patience and continued support!  
  
Chapter 2.  
  
"Hey!"  
  
The exclaimation punctured the calm atmosphere and carried over the hypnotic sound of the rythmic waves.  
  
"Wait up, man!"  
  
The figure in front twisted around, then fumbled awkwardly, almost dropping his packages on the ground.  
  
"Well, Sir Allen, if you're here to help, you'd better hurry up." came the reply, "I've still got lots of stuff to move before sundown and no time to wait for you." The figure jutted his jaw toward the crimson disk hovering wanly above the sea, his dark brown eyes dancing with suppressed mirth and a hint of impatience.  
  
A light sea breeze floated across, coaxing his unruly raven locks into an unwilling dance. Without waiting for a response, he turned back and continued walking toward a house on stilts.  
  
"Yeah, yeah..." his companion mumbled, "I say as long as the bed's inside, you can wait till tomorrow to to have the rest in."  
  
"That's why," the figure strained, struggling to juggle keys and packages at the same time, " you're not me." The door opened with an audible click.  
  
"I really hate to repeat myself, but could you quit standing there looking pretty and kindly HURRY!" A disembodied voice floated through the cool air. "You may take it as a royal command, if it can make you work better."  
  
The only reply was a few muttered curses and the accompanying sound of hurried footsteps across the long row of elevated wooden planks.  
  
Allen paused for a moment, his attention drawn to an antiquitated little bright red box riveted just beside the wooden beach house.  
  
"Are you coming in or do I have to invite you?"  
  
"I'm coming, I'm coming," Allen shouted back, irritated. ****  
  
"Finally done!" Allen exhaled, lounging deeper into the couch, cupping his hands comfortably behind his head. "You owe me big time for this, friend." he added as he saw his raven haired companion emerging behind the huge boxes, drinks in hand.  
  
"Thanks." he sipped the cold drink sighing contentedly as he closed his eyes. For a moment, neither said a word as they sat, taking in the serenity of their surroundings, hearing the waves washing in in the distance.  
  
"Nice place you've gotten yourself, your majesty." Allen commented at last.  
  
"So... no regrets?" he added as he noticed his friend lost in thought.  
  
"No. Everything's settled." A long pause passed.  
  
Only the delicate clink of the ice cube against the glass was heard as Allen put his empty cup down.  
  
"Most of the land's already rebuilt and I think the rest is up to the people." he stopped short, taking a deep breath, "I've done all that I can do - everything in my power..."  
  
Then, "Do you think I'm selfish, Allen? To leave everything behind just to try to find a way to be with her?"  
  
Wavering brown eyes suddenly bored into pale blue ones, pleading understanding and assurance.  
  
"No, my friend. As you've said, you have done everything within your sphere of influence. And you have sacrificed a lot. Perhaps even more than me..." he trailed off, then added sincerely, "Maybe you've felt it too, in yourself - that you've given everything you have inside you. And you have no more left to give."  
  
"Which was why I decided to come here in the first place." he ruefully agreed. "I know that. It's just..."  
  
"I understand."Allen clasped his shoulder reassuringly. "Don't worry. After all the things you have been through... I...the both of you belong together." He finished awkwardly, remembering a scene from the past.  
  
"Thanks. It means a lot, coming from you." He paused, then added, "I know you care a lot for her too."  
  
"I do, in my own way," he took a deep breath and exhaled, "but it's you that she loves. Don't disappoint her, or yourself. Don't let her go again."  
  
"I won't."  
  
Suddenly, the night sky was illuminated by a shaft of blinding white light.  
  
"Well," Allen said gruffly, "looks like my carriage has arrived."  
  
The pillar of light that descended from the heavens consumed his broad frame, and blinded the two of them temporarily.  
  
"Farewell, my friend."  
  
They clasped hands as Allen rose higher and higher into the air, his blonde locks shimmering in the distance.  
  
It departed as soon it came, leaving darkness in its wake, and the ghost of a farewell.  
  
"Goodbye...Van." 


End file.
